Oscar's car playmat

My piece de resistance, Oscar's car playmat:

This project was truly a labor of love. It took over 50 hours to complete, and at least 10 years off my life. But ... the final product was worth it. Hopefully Oscar and siblings will play with this for years to come, and someday he will appreciate the effort that went into it.

The playmat measures about 3x4 feet, and is almost entirely appliqued. The road is painted with black acrylic paint, and then sewn around the edges to give it a crisp look and to make it more cohesive with the rest of the playmat.

I designed all of the buildings myself, except of course for the gas station and car wash, which I copied from the Fiskar's Car Activity Mat (they were too cute to resist). For the gas pump hose, I substituted the shoelace with a elastic hairband. The car wash strips are leather trim.

The playmat includes all of our favorite places around town, like Grandma and Grandpa's house, complete with their fruit trees:

Chicken Little, our local toy store:

The courthouse, which also double's as daddy's work:

Crushcakes Cupcakery and Trader Joe's:

In-N-Out burger:

and a school with the ever-important playground:

Other buildings include the train station, fire department, additional houses, our church, and of course we couldn't leave off the beach. We also have traffic signs, cross walks, parking spaces and a post box.

Some of the buildings, like the courthouse and In-N-Out, look true to life. I took liberties with others, like Crushcakes and all of the houses, to make them more festive. If I made this mat look just like Santa Barbara, almost every building would be stucco with a red tile roof.

The playmat is backed with Riley Blake White Map from the Wheels collection.

Wow - you have created something that will be a treasure in your family for many, many years I'm sure. Just love all the personal details - I am sure you will enjoy the delight you see as the young people play on it. Ciao

Oh yea!! This was the project I was hoping it would be! Ever since you posted photos of the play mat that was yours when you were a child, I hava similar quilt (to double as a play mat) one for my son. You are WAY further than I got though...mine is still mostly in the sketch phase (but at least they are all finished! and I, too had planned on appliqueing the majority. Thank you so much for posting photos (and an honest time line so I know what I'm in for and not to get discouraged when I realize I had bit off more than I realized). I am officially re-inspired! His birthday is Christmas Eve, so we'll see if I make my deadline!

Whoa! That is by far the most ambitious project that I have ever seen! What an incredible pay off to such a big undertaking! You kids will love it and as they get older they will love that you made it! It will be something that can be passed down from generation to generation.

This is so amazing. Oscar & Ruby are lucky to have you for a mommy. You did such a great job, and I'm sure one day you will be appreciated for all the beautiful details you included. This will make a great family heirloom for your children... a wonderful gift.

This is so amazing! What an amazing and very special birthday gift for your son! I love how you included all of your favorite places. What a cool item for your son to be able to share with his children when he grows up. My kids would love something like this. My son is 8, and he still loves playing with cars.

I LOVE it! I remember your saying you were making one a while back and it also sparked the idea at our house. Then I found one for $14 at IKEA and changed my mind. But this. This is amazing. WAY way better than the cheap IKEA mat. A piece of family history.

this is the most amazing homemade thing i've ever seen! i hope that your kids log at least as many hours playing on it as you did making it. i can see it being passed down to your future grandchildren!

I TOTALLY understand what you mean by a labor of love! I made one of these for my nephews a few years back. However, Mine was not quite as awesome as yours! My great grandma made one for my older brothers when they were little. They loved it, and it was passed down from kid to kid. We all loved it.

When I made the garages for the little houses, I made a little pocket that the cars can drive into. I am now having a baby boy, and I can't wait for one day when I can make one for him! ;)

As a new grandma, I have been following your blog for the past six months and have enjoyed making your burp clothes, apple dolls, etc for my two new grandbabies, Margaret Jayne and Felix. But the play cloth is superb-. Bravo!! I may start for my grandbabies and hope to complete before they are two years old! thanks, Barbara

I've enjoyed looking at all of your crafts over the past couple of years and wished I could have HALF of your motivation and creativity. But THIS tops all of them!! What a MAGNIFICENT job you did on this play mat!!! I'm blown away. WOW! Happy (second) Birthday to Oscar as well!!!

This is an awesome car mat it's funny 2 weeks ago I decided I was going to make one for my son for Christmas and started buying stuff then a freind of mine told me about yours it's great. 1 question how did you hold the two pieces of fabric together did you just tie them in a couple spots??? did you quilt through a couple buildings??? That wouls help me out alot I'm going to applique mine also so I was thinking on how to keep the 2 fabrics together.

Yes that does help very much, thank you I'm glad you made one of these it helps me figure out the idea I had in my head, and it helped me to visualize my buildings better. You do such great, cute stuff!

i've been wanting to make one of these for my son, but all the ones i'd seen were, well... kind of lame :)but this is amazing!!! it's very inspiring to see what's possible! and thanks for including how long it took you to complete.. at least i'll have a reasonable expectation instead of thinking i could just throw something together for him at the drop of a hat and still have it look awesome :)

Hi Jill, I love your playmat! I have been wanting to make one of these, now I'm really inspired. Random question for you, do you have any scraps left from this project that you would be willing to sell? It seems the hardest part is going to be gathering enough fabrics that will look good on the mat. Just thought I would ask. Thanks, Jenn

Jenn, I am currently making one of these and for my little buildings and stuff I just bought some of the "fat quarters" they sell at the fabric store that way it doesn't cost alot of $$$ for big cuts you dont need.

Love your work and LOVE this car mat! I am working on one, not quite to your standards, but one nonetheless! I was thinking of using a flannel for the car mat base fabric. What did you use? I know you painted it I don't know that flannel would tolerate the paint? Suggestions?

I just stumbled across your blog the other night and I can't stop looking through your archives. This is absolutely AMAZING! I am in awe of this project. Your creativity has been an inspiration for me this summer! Thanks for sharing!

Astounding!! If only I had a little boy ... !!Just found you via a pin on pinterest and i'm very impressed. I would also like to know what fabric the (green) base is? Did you just use curtain/upholstery plain fabric? And how does it wash?!I really want to make one now. A close friend is having a very VERY long awaited baby who will be a wonderful miracle and I think its a boy ... if it is i'm going to start planning!www.mummy2midwife.blogspot.com

I love your blog and find your projects so inspiring! (In fact, reading your blog is what got me started sewing). I just made a take along car playmat inspired by this one for my son's second birthday. It's not nearly as fabulous hehe, a lot smaller, and closes up like a drawstring bag to hold the cars and so it's portable. You can see where I posted about it here: http://nennaandbarley.blogspot.com/2012/03/playmat-remix-car-playmat-tutorial-sort.html Keep the great projects coming, you're so inspiring!

Thanks for the inspiration, I want to make one for my daughter that fits the coffee table, but I made a floor version for a friends bday. I looked at a few links I'd pinned and you yours was one I kept coming back to. Here's the link to the one I made

I have been wanting to do this for my grandsons, as I had made one for my son when he was a little guy. What I don't remember is what size I made it. What do you think is a good size? My son took his everywhere we went. I made him a bag to carry it in along with a few cars tucked in side he was ready to go.

Hi! I absolutely LOVE your playmat! I grew up in Ventura and lived in Santa Barbara for a number of years, until recently, so it definitely strikes home! You did an excellent job with the courthouse and I love that you added crushcakes :)

We featured your playmat in a round up of similar do-it-yourself toy car ideas on our blog and linked back here!